Caoimhin Agyarko squared off with Troy Williamson on the undercard of Michael Conlan Vs Jordan Gill tonight at the SSE Arena in Belfast.
The pair would go to battle for a WBA regional title at super welterweight. Williamson came to the ring with one defeat to his name, coming against Josh Kelly at the end of 2022. Agyarko would put his 13 fight undefeated record on the line in his hometown.
Both men hit the center of the ring at the opening bell with both trying to assert their jab in the first 90 seconds. Agyarko pushed the pressure with more success, landing a combination in the closing 25 seconds, briefly halting Williamson in his tracks.
The second round saw Agyarko looking more settled, establishing his jab immediately. Williamson tentatively came forward midway through the round only to be caught by a right hand. The Irishman would land two more good jabs to close out the round.
Williamson began the third round as the aggressor attempting to force the action on the front foot. He did land two noteworthy shots, one to the head and one to the body. Agyarko took his foot off the gas to give Williamson the round, finishing with Agyarko taking pressure on the ropes.
Round four started very similar to the third with Williamson applying the pressure to his back stepping opponent. Agyarko would land not the most powerful combination halfway through the round. Again Williamson ended the round on the front foot, landing a body shot with his man against the ropes.
The fifth round saw a more even display. Agyarko was managing to time Williamson’s attacks more often than not, but Williamson had large amounts of success through the three minutes. It ended with Agyarko landing two impressive counter punches in quick succession.
By round six it was either man’s fight to lose. Agyarko was looking more like the fighter we saw in the first two rounds, Williamson’s walk down tactics had not altered at this point. Agyarko’s boxing skills saw him take back some control of the bout. Williamson would land a good jab just before the bell.
The pace slowed down in round seven until Agyarko landed a big hook midway through. There was little else to report in a round where Williamson had looked to have emptied the tank.
Williamson again started the eight on the forward march. However, by this stage Agyarko was reading his adversary’s attacks in good time. There were very minor snippets of action with Agyarko landing uppercuts on the inside.
Round nine was not the most action packed either, but the pace had picked up slightly. Agyarko was again using the perimeter of the ring to keep away from Williamson. Agyarko had appeared to tire.
The tenth and final round would not see these two fighters go toe-to-toe, it would follow the same theme we had seen most of the fight. Agyarko’s jab was landing well, but Williamson did land a head shot halfway through the round. The finishing seconds did see Agyarko land two separate crowd pleasing shots, celebrating the victory just before the final bell.
The scorecards read: 96-94 in favour of Williamson with the other two judges scoring in favour of Agyarko with scores of 98-92 and 97-93 to give the split decision to the hometown fighter.
Agyarko improves his undefeated record to 14-0 (7 KOs), Williamson’s record moves to 20-2-1 (14 KOs).
